February 18, 2014

XOXO Story: Love Notes Clothesline Layout - Anabelle O'Malley

Before getting started with another round of inspiration, we first want to take a moment to thank those that came forth with a response to last Friday's giveaway question. We inquired as to why the many of you visit the Crate Paper blog and after surveying your thoughts, it appears the two most common responses were "because I love the style of your designs" and "your a great source of inspiration". How awesome is that?! Thank-you everyone for chiming in and telling us your reasons for hanging with CP! We sincerely honor your feedback - to put it simply, our fans are the BEST!

The moment you've been waiting for - Congratulations to....

I love CP because of its unique style and design- it has vintage charm, and is classy and versatile. It's the only company I use now because it truly captures my personal style which in turn helps bring out the best of my designs. I come to the CP blog because each and every designer is incredibly talented and I never leave with out being inspired! Posted by: Rachael F | February 14, 2014 at 06:57 PM

February is definitely the time for love in our house. My husband and I celebrate our wedding anniversary on February 12 and, of course, Valentine's Day comes on the 14th. We have been married for 14 years now and each and every year, he brings me roses to celebrate the two events. It's a tradition that I love and look forward to each year. I decided to create a layout that featured this year's bouquet.

I started my page by sketching two diagonal lines so that I could see where to place my elements. I added the photo first and built the rest of the banner around it.

I knew I wanted to use a bunch of the cute clothespins. The large ones had hearts on them that faced sideways. To make them work on this page, I simply popped them off and added them back on with glue dots. It was super easy and they look just right now.

Next, I began placing the embellishments where I wanted them to be. I chose florettes from the standouts, chipboard pieces and smaller clothespins. As I placed them onto the 'banner', I layered them a bit to fit them in and to achieve the look I was going for.

Once the first row was finished, I started the second. I knew that I wanted to include my title and journaling block here. As you can see, I used the chipboard banner pieces to spell out the title. Using the word 'love' sideways added some visual interest.

As I was trying to figure out how to add the journaling, I spotted the packaging for the clothespins lying on my desk. I knew it would work perfectly! All I had to do was trim it down and round the bottom corners.

I adhered all of the elements into place. Finally, I cut some twine and spread it across, attaching it to the clothespins. This was much easier than trying to attach the elements to it and keeping everything in place as I did so.

I love how the layout reflects a feeling of fun and celebration - exactly how my roses do. They are my favorite tradition from Valentine's Day and I know that they will continue to be for a long time.